Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The city's zoning board ruled against the applicants Tuesday morning.
The city's zoning board decided Tuesday to oppose a request by the owners of 12 Grove St. that would have allowed Villa Mexico Cafe to relocate there from Grampy's gas station on Cambridge Street. The ruling ends the restaurant's effort to open on Grove Street. "Zoning forbids this use. It’s not a personal thing," Robert Shortsleeve, the chairman of the city board, said. The space lies in a zone in which properties revert to residential use if they have not been housing a business for more than two years. This address has not been in commercial use for at least 15 years. The owner of Villa Mexico Cafe, Stoneham resident Julie King, was asking for a variance to this statute. But opponents to the application said that a restaurant at 12 …
After months of trying to gain the support and funds needed to move to a new location in Beacon Hill, Julie and Bessie King, Stoneham residents and owners of the restaurant, will appear before the city's zoning board Tuesday morning.
After last month's attempt to connect with Grove Street residents fell through, the owners of Beacon Hill-based Villa Mexico Cafe are going before the city's zoning board Tuesday morning for a final hearing on whether they will be allowed to move their business from Grampy's gas station on Cambridge Street to 12 Grove St. The restaurant must leave the gas station as it is slated to be redeveloped this summer into office buildings. While they originally were going to leave in December, they have been allowed to stay in the gas station as they search for a new home. The new location the owners of Villa Mexico, Julie and Bessie King, both of Stoneham, very much want is a spot on the ground floor of 12 Grove St., which is being offered to …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The cafe's owners, Julie and Bessie King, both of Stoneham, are hoping to iron out any concerns Grove Street neighbors in Beacon Hill might have before the zoning board meeting March 27.
Although Villa Mexico didn't get the neighborhood's zoning committee approval to move their restaurant to 12 Grove St., the owners are hopeful that with the support of the neighbors they will be able to do so. Stoneham resident Julie King, who owns the cafe and runs it with her daughter, Bessie, sent out a flyer two weeks ago to Grove Street residents, asking them to meet with her March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at her restaurant in Grampy's gas station, at 290 Cambridge St., to discuss any concerns they have about her business. "As a business owner who has operated in Beacon Hill for more than five (5) years, I am mindful of the concerns of my neighbors. I will do everything to ensure that the impacts associated with operating 12 Grove Street are …
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The restaurant in Grampy's gas station could stay in the spot as late as next month.
Villa Mexico is still open at Grampy's gas station and will remain so until at least the end of this month, possibly more. Stoneham resident Julie King, the restaurant's owner, said Villa Mexico could stay open into February as she waits for the city to set a date to hear the appeal of her request for a zoning variance to open a store on Beacon Hill. King said she's keeping her fingers crossed that she'll be able to stay on the hill. Meanwhile, she is planning to meet with neighbors to hear any concerns they may have about her relocating her place. Grampy's gas station, which houses Villa Mexico, is slated for demolition later this year to make way for an office building. The gas station's owner had originally asked King to leave the …
